Would You Like a Bottle of Water

Devotionals Would You Like a Bottle of Water? 8/5/2024 - by: Jeff Michael Gallagher - Starting With Scripture Share Rev. Dr. Jeffrey M. Gallagher is the Senior Pastor of the United Congregational Church of Tolland, Chaplain of the Tolland Fire Department and Connecticut State Police, author of the book Wilderness Blessings: How Down Syndrome Reconstructed Our Life and Faith. Photo Note: The photo below shows Rev. Jeff with his wife Kristen and children Norah and Jacob at Jacob’s recent competition with the Connecticut Special Olympics. Scripture: 1 Kings 19:4-8 (NRSV) But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die: ‘It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.’ Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, ‘Get up and eat.’ He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. He ate and drank, and lay down again. The angel of the Lord came a second time, touched him, and said, ‘Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you.’ He got up, and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food for forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God. Reflection: Would you like a bottle of water? If you asked me, back in seminary, what one of the most powerful lines I would say in ministry would be, I’m pretty sure “Would you like a bottle of water?” would never even have crossed my mind. And yet . . . . In addition to serving as a Pastor, I also serve as a fire and police Chaplain. While that chaplaincy work sometimes involves offering a prayer for first responders at an accident that sadly proved to be fatal, or racing to the ambulance to get the stretcher ready to transport a patient, oftentimes I can be seen on scene simply carrying around bottles of water. “Would you like a bottle of water?” I say to a firefighter who has just left a burning home and is on her knees on the front lawn, trying to catch her breath. “Would you like a bottle of water” I say to an EMT who is exhausted from performing round after round of CPR. “Would you like a bottle of water?” I say to a family member who has just been informed that a loved one has died. It’s nothing that seems particularly ministerial or pastoral, let alone powerful, and yet, it is. For the function of chaplaincy, since its earliest beginnings in the military, has been as a ministry of presence. It’s not to theologize, or ask probing questions, or try to come up with some empty platitude or false reassurance that will make the one saying it feel better. It’s to simply sit and be with another in their time of grief, pain, mourning, anguish, or whatever else they may be feeling or experiencing. And perhaps, in those moments, to offer them something as simple as a bottle of water. It may be that such a gesture opens the door to conversation; or it may be that it doesn’t. But what it does do is let the person know that whatever they are going through is not something that they need to face alone. It's exactly the ministry that the angel offers to Elijah in this passage from 1 Kings. Notice the angel doesn’t chastise Elijah for what he has done. The angel doesn’t wonder what Elijah did to bring this on himself or to incur Jezebel’s wrath. The angel doesn’t tell Elijah to just get over it or pull himself up by his bootstraps. The angel doesn’t even remind Elijah that God is with him. No, the angel offers Elijah sustenance for his physical body and in so doing, I believe, offers more sustenance for his spiritual and mental struggles than any words could ever have done. And so I think we’d do well to learn from Elijah’s example here. Whether going through grief, mental health challenges, sadness, pain, struggles, or whatever else may come our way on this journey of life, sometimes simply sitting and being with another is exactly what is called for. And if we feel the need to say something, “Would you like a bottle of water?” might just be the most pastoral word there can be. PRAYER Holy God, remind us that sometimes the most pastoral word to say is nothing at all, and that the most simple of gestures might provide the most spiritual support we can offer. Amen. New Prayer Requests: We ask churches and church leaders to join us in the following prayers either by sharing them during worship, printing them in bulletins, or sharing them in some other way. To make a prayer request, please contact Marlene Gasdia-Cochrane at cochranem@sneucc.org. Prayers of Intercession: Prayers for peace as wars and conflicts continue to escalate around the world. Injustices and inequalities manifest as racism, discrimination, gender-based violence, economic disparities, and other issues. For those grieving or suffering due to the ~9,950 gun violence deaths that happened in the US since the start of the year. For the Vienna Community Church and their search for a new pastor. Prayers of Joy and Thanksgiving: For bottles of water and other simple offerings. For those who understand the teachings of Jesus with a clear understanding of the centrality of social justice to the Bible. For community gardens. This Week in History: August 6, 1945 (79 years ago): The United States becomes the first and only nation to use atomic weaponry during wartime when it drops an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. [History] “Study the past if you would define the future.” — Confucius jeff_fd_stole.jpg Jeff Michael Gallagher the Senior Pastor of the United Congregational Church of Tolland and author of the book Wilderness Blessings: How Down Syndrome Reconstructed Our Life and Faith